Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Sean Everette
Arlington National Cemetery Funeral
Army Cpl. Norvin D. Brockett, 18, of Crook, Oregon, killed during the Korean War, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery July 21, 2021.
In December 1950, Brockett was a member of Battery A, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. His remains could not be recovered following the attack and he was not reported as a prisoner of war. The U.S. Army declared him deceased as of Dec. 31, 1953.
His funeral was attended by his niece and other family members.
Courtesy Photo
Vietnam Repatriation Ceremony
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Detachment 2 and the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons (VNOSMP) held the 155th Repatriation Ceremony on 9 July 2021 at Gia Lam Airport outside Hanoi, Vietnam. During the ceremony the United States’ Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Christopher Klein and Director General of the ministry of Foreign Affairs Americas Department, Mr. Le Chi Dung witnessed the signing over of remains thought to be associated with a U.S. service member still missing from the war in Vietnam.
This ceremony was the culmination of collaborative efforts of the U.S. and Vietnam during the 143rd Joint Field Activity, working together on an underwater recovery site off the coast of Nha Trang. These remains will be transferred to the DPAA Laboratory in Hawaii for further review.he ceremony’s location was especially significant to the history of the MIA accounting mission in Vietnam. From February to April 1973, over 500 American POWs were repatriated through Gia Lam Airport and returned home. Friday’s ceremony was the first repatriation at Gia Lam Airport since “Operation Homecoming” almost five decades ago.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr. Klein thanked the government and people of Vietnam for their continued support to locate and return Americans who are still missing from the war. He also highlighted the efforts of both DPAA and the VNOSMP to safely continue this important humanitarian mission in accordance with all COVID 19 prevention protocols. Mr. Le Chi Dung, Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Americas Department and Director of the VNOSMP, remarked on the special significance of Gia Lam Airport. In addition to being the location of the first repatriation of Americans after the war, Gia Lam district was also the location of the first post-unification excavation activity in 1985.
The United States and Vietnam have cooperated for over 30 years to fully account for those Americans still missing from the war in Vietnam.
Photo by Lance Cpl. Timothy Fowler
Vietnam Recovery Mission
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Luigi Lawrence, a DPAA recovery team member, swings a pick axe to loosen dirt during a recovery mission in Quang Binh province, Vietnam, July 3, 2021. During the recovery mission, which was part of the 143rd Joint Field Activity, DPAA personnel, augmentees and local nationals spent their days digging and screening in hopes of finding a missing U.S. service member lost during the Vietnam War. There are more than 1,500 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, and the U.S. continues its decades-long partnership with the Vietnamese government to find and bring missing military members home.
Photo by Thathsaphone Keomoungkhoun, U.S. Embassy Public Diplomacy Section
Laos Repatriation
Bounthavy Sengphachanh (seated right), Director of the America MIA Division, Europe and Americas Department of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Lt. Col. Daniel Oh (seated left), commander of DPAA’s Detachment Three-Laos, pause for a photo during the signing of remains turnover documents at a Repatriation Ceremony June 22 in Vientiane, Laos.
Ambassador Peter Haymond (third from left), U.S. Ambassador to the Lao PDR, represented the U.S. and Lao Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bounleua Phandanouvong (fourth from left) represented the Lao PDR in turning over believed-to-be remains of U.S. service members to the U.S. government for transport back to the United States. Thanks to the continued support of the Lao PDR, DPAA has been able conduct four to five recovery missions per year for over 30 years, with 288 U.S. service members having been recovered and identified to date. As we celebrate the 5th anniversary of the U.S.-Lao Comprehensive Partnership, this humanitarian endeavor, which began in 1985, represents our longest-standing area of bilateral cooperation in Laos. We are grateful to the Lao PDR government and the people of Laos for their assistance as we work to account for missing Americans.
Photo by Sgt. Mitchell Ryan
Underwater Recovery Mission
U.S. Coast Guard Diver 2nd Class Corey Smith, a mission augmentee from Coast Guard Regional Dive Locker Pacific, jumps into the water from a barge during an underwater recovery mission in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam, May 27. Smith is one of four Coast Guard divers who joined DPAA’s underwater recovery team to search for unaccounted-for U.S. service members as part of the 143rd Joint Field Activity. DPAA is grateful to the Vietnamese government for their sustained cooperation and partnership in our on-going mission to recover our unaccounted-for service members from the Vietnam War.
Graphic by Lee Tucker
USS Oklahoma Honorable Carry Ceremonies
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) returned remains of Sailors and Marines lost aboard the USS Oklahoma to Hawaii June 24. Ceremonies in Nebraska and Hawaii honored these Sailors and Marines killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and who were unable to be identified.
The remains will be turned over to the Navy for burial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Honolulu on the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The identification of 337 individuals, to date, from the USS Oklahoma Project represents DPAA's first success of a project of such scope and complexity. More than 86 percent of Unknowns from the USS Oklahoma have been individually identified.